What You Can't Leave Behind
by WickedWitchoftheSE
Summary: An inspiration from Helen Pattskyn and her universe. What does Jack do when he's lost his team again?


Disclaimer: I do not own any of these characters. RTD owns most of them and I must thank the wonderful Helen Pattskyn for creating Kam and James Smeed and then so graciously allowing me to use them here. Anything I say here obviously does not apply in her universe.

A/N: No idea where this came from. And I'm very nervous about it, so PLEASE let me know what you think even if you hate it.

It didn't take much convincing on Owens part to get Jack to leave the Hub that night. Ianto's small pout had helped push the captain over the edge and both left by eight with a cheery wave for Owen. The doctor, for his part, was just glad to have the sexual tension out of the room and went back down to the autopsy, looking forward to having a Jack free night.

His wish only held for about twenty minutes before he heard the cog door rolling back. Owen ignored it, hoping Jack had only forgotten something and would be gone soon. After thirty minutes of banging around Owen heard a loud whistle…the one Jack used to call Myfanwy down to him. Thinking enough was enough, Owen stalked back up to the main level to find Jack staring at the large bird in awe.

"Oy! Harkness!" Owen yelled, taking the steps two at a time, "what do you think you're doing?!" In his annoyance, Owen didn't take in Jack's startled expression until he was right up on him. "I thought we…" Owen trailed off, finally taking Jack fully in. "Harkness, what the bloody hell are you _wearing_?"

Not only was Jack missing his coat, the one he had been wearing not twenty minutes earlier, but he was wearing thin cotton slacks. His shirt was fitted but was a light tan color, something Owen had never seen him in. Around his neck was a necklace with two rings hanging from it and on his wrist-

"I thought yours was bigger?" Owen asked, back on his heels glaring at Jack, "What are you doing with Hart's wrist strap?"

"I um…what are you doing here?" Jack muttered. Now Owen knew something was wrong. In all his time with Torchwood, Jack had never stuttered.

"Alright," Owen said pulling his gun out, "who the hell…no _when_ the hell are you from?"

Finally Jack's old grin came back, "That obvious?"

"You think?" Owen replied, cocking his gun.

"Why don't you put that away, you know how much good it'll do," Jack said, his hands raised in a supplicating gesture.

"Yeah it'll give me at least 2 minutes to chain you up," Owen answered, "Now why don't you tell me why you're here."

"I just…I just needed to see it," Jack said with a sigh, staring up at the ceiling, watching Myfanwy take another lap.

"You didn't answer my question, when are you from?" Owen asked again.

"Twenty sixth century," Jack answered, "Now answer one of mine-Owen, right?"

"Yeah," Owen answered, lowering his gun. There was something very bizarre about having one of the four people in the world you were close to not knowing your name. "_Doctor_ Owen Harper."

"Right," Jack answered with a smile, "Doctor Owen Harper. But your accent…no wait, you were from London…Bobby was…" Jack trailed off, seemingly lost in his own thoughts.

Owen wasn't quite sure if he liked this version of Jack Harkness. Too thoughtful and too…

"You seem sad," Owen observed.

"I am," Jack answered another truthful answer out of him. He kept staring at Ianto's coffee machine, "I lost him-"

"Ianto?" Owen asked incredulously, "Twenty sixth century and you just now-"

"NO!" Jack responded, "I mean, I did lose him, but he wasn't the one…I mean he was but he wasn't…" for the second time that night Jack seemed lost for words.

"I'll make a coffee for you and then you can explain a little better," Owen said, heading towards the coffee machine. When he got back to the couch he found Jack looking at him strangely.

"I don't remember you like this," Jack explained, "And I don't remember you making coffee."

"Ianto taught me, remem- well I guess you don't. Ianto taught me afterwards. And just because I act like I don't have a heart doesn't mean I don't."

Jack studied Owen for a moment.

"I hurt you, didn't I?" Jack whispered.

"Yeah you did," Owen said with a grin, "You didn't mean to though."

"How's Tosh? And…Gwen?" Jack asked with a slight hesitation, like he couldn't quite remember if he was getting the right people with Owen's team.

"Tosh is…quiet. Taking the night off. Gwen's on her honeymoon," Owen said with a slight smirk, "I'm guessing you don't remember-"

"Rhys!" Jack jumped in with a grin.

"You remember Rhys over me?" Owen said, slightly offended.

"Not if I had met him in the street…not without Gwen or the kids anyways," Jack answered, not giving anything else away.

"Don't you want to know about-"

"No," Jack cut him off, "I don't want to ask. I don't want to hear I couldn't stand it."

"It wasn't him you lost," Owen said, "Who was it?"

"It doesn't matter; I just wanted to see something familiar. This place one last time. I thought there wouldn't be anyone here this late."

"We can never forget those etched on our hearts," Owen said, feeling pretty philosophical for once, "You told me that after Katie. But that the best way to love them was to remember."

Jack was quiet for a moment.

"His name was Kamden Anders…"

The next morning saw Jack-his Jack- and Ianto back in. Owen didn't say a word about the night before. About what would come, the pain and the pineapples. Not about Seren, which Jack had let slip, or about James Smeed and the doctor whose name Jack couldn't seem to quite remember in the tears.

He didn't bring up how it was the best night he had ever had with his boss. How for once Jack would give him straight answers about his life and where he had come from. Until Owen began to get nosy about the future, begging Jack to tell him when he really died, when Tosh died, when any of them died. He didn't stop til Jack just said 2057 and pointed to the dinosaur.

Owen was unafraid because he knew that this Jack would never see him again, couldn't tease him the next morning about caring. He was finally able to tell Jack how much he respected him and how much he wanted to be like him, even after the glove.

He listened to Jack cry over the fight he and Kam had that had ended with the boy on another ship for six months. How Jack had won him back and where they had disappeared to for the next two years. He laughed when Jack told him about Buddy and Anneke's wedding where the crew drank too much and ended up in jail for the night.

No, Owen Harper didn't mention any of that the next morning. Instead he listened as the cog door rolled open and stomped up the stairs from the autopsy bay, having watched Jack fade into the metaphorical sunset over an hour earlier.

"Oi, tea boy!" he called out, "You finally here? I'm looking for that file on the Weevils, you got it for me yet?" And even though he missed the eye roll, he knew that Jack was watching and would store it up as something etched on his heart.


End file.
